Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

28.07.18 09:02 AM - By MHI

Health Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Many diets have a strict approach to eating. If you want something different then intermittent fasting it your solution. Rather than tracking what you eat intermittent fasting requires you to alternate fasting periods with eating periods. Also, you need to eat healthy because after a long fast you don’t want to eat a bad meal.

Seeing that when you sleep you fast, in a normal diet the eating window is bigger than the fasting window. But with intermittent fasting, you get to increase the fasting period while you decrease the eating period. So you can fast for 16 hours and eat in on 8-hour window or increase the fasting period to 20 hours with 4 hours eating window. You can also fast 24 hours one time or two times per week.

Intermittent fasting compares with a typical diet

Easy to do	Hard to do
Available anywhere	Limited
Saves time	Takes time
Free	Expensive
Simplifies life	Complicate life

Here are the reasons why you should fast:

Weight loss and weight maintenance – I have started with this because it is my favourite, Intermittent fasting can help you lose weight and belly fat [1]. When you fast two things happen. You are consuming fewer calories and second, your base metabolic rate is increasing [2].

Because of that and because it is easy to do, fasting is an effective way to lose weight.

In a study done on animals [3] was proven that intermittent fasting boosts metabolism and help burn body fat.

Want to learn how to lose weight with intermittent fasting? Click here!

Can help you live longer- Intermittent fasting is the ultimate anti ageing treatment because the best way that we know to increase lifespan is calory restriction. And when you fast, you are restricting calories and your body has time to detox and this will slow down ageing and prevent age-related disease.

In a study done at Harvard [4] was found that fasting promotes alonger lifespan. By manipulating the numbers and quality of mitochondria.

So the conclusion: if you want to age better fasting is the solution for you.

Hormone changes – It lowers insulin which means greater fat burning. After you eat your insulin levels are high, this helps create new fat cells. But in this time your body can’t burn fat. When you fast your insulin levels are low and only then your body can burn fat.

Also, it can help you reverse insulin resistance. Insulin has the role to signal cells that glucose is coming and your cell will receive glucose from your blood. But your cells can become desensitized to insulin and this happens because of too much glucose in the blood, in this situation cells reacts only to high levels of insulin. And your pancreas is forced to produce more insulin. In time your pancreas will get fatigue leading to insulin deficiency, pre-diabetes, or diabetes.

Intermittent fasting has a positive effect on the hunger hormone ghrelin [5][6]. This hormone is made by the stomach when it is empty.And it promotes the growth of new brain cells and it enhances cognition functions. That is why when fasting you will feel more focused.

Human growth hormone is responsible for muscle growth and for anti ageing. The deficiency of this hormone leads to body fat, lower muscle mass and decreased bone mass. But in the fasting period, this hormone is increased [7].

Your Heart – As you know heart failure is the number one cause of death in the world. Most cardiovascular diseases happen because of fatty deposits build-up in the arteries.

But intermittent fasting can help you reduce cholesterol, triglyceride, body fat, blood pressure and insulin resistance. Resulting in a better cardiac function, protecting your arteries and your heart.

New research has found that people who regularly fast are less likely to have a heart disease or a stroke [8][9].

Cancer – Because it is triggering the immune system, fasting can help cancer patients. The immune system can destroy viruses and pathogens in the body but it is not that good at killing the body’s own abnormal cells specifically cancer cells.Recent medical treatments are designed to help the immune system find and destroy cancer in the body and new research found that fasting has the same effect. [10].

When fasting the immune system produce more B cells and T cells that target and destroy tumour cells. Also fasting and chemotherapy it is a safe practice that can be used to slow tumour growth in cancer patients [11].

Your Brain – Brain Derived NeuroTrophic Factor (BDNF) is a protein that helps in the formation of new neurons and synapses within the brain.

High levels of BDNF are essential for healthier neurons and better communication between them [12]. While low levels are associated with memory loss, dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s[13].

That is one way how fasting is helping your brain because in the fasted state your BDNF is increased [14][15][16]. But this is not the only way, because fasting is helping your brain stay younger [17].

Diabetes – With type 2 diabetes, after you eat your blood sugar goes up, which is bad! But what if you are not eating? Since extra fuel is stored in the body as fat and glycogen, you can safely fast, giving your body time to heal [18].

So intermittent fasting helps patients with type 2 diabetes and also helps reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, and it does this because it reduces blood sugar [19][20]. But before you do intermittent fasting it is better to get the approval from your doctor, as with any diet plan.

Energy and mental focused – As you know after a meal you feel tired. But in the fasting period, you will feel that you have more energy, you will get better workouts. It is amazing!

This happens because after you eat your body turns carbohydrates into blood sugar. Wich is burned as energy or stored as body fat. But your blood sugar will drop and your energy and mental focus will drop with it. Your body will compensate for this lack of energy by asking for more food, making you hungry and the process will repeat. You eat, your body will process the food and this will stress and tired your metabolism.

But when you fast your body is forced to turn body fat into energy. This process happens in the liver and it is a slowly and constantly process with no ups and downs. And it happens without stressing your metabolism.

So the conclusion fasting = insane energy + mental performance [21].

Other health benefits of intermittent fasting: improved memory and mood, it boosts your immune system, it rejuvenates your skin, it speeds healing and recovery, it helps sync circadian rhythms, it fights off metabolic diseases, it improves your blood work.

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